kurzos has posted a couple of shots of a Dodge 3700 GT. If it looks a bit different than an American Dart sedan, that’s because it got treated to not only a hip-implant, but a sumptuous interior with leather, full instrumentation and a four-speed floor-shifted manual. And yes, the “3700” refers to the 225 Slant Six’ displacement in cubic centimeters. Oh, and disc brakes and suspension upgrades were part of the package too. In Spain in the 1970s, when there were severe import tariffs, this was a very expensive high-end luxury car.
These cars were made by Barreiros, a maker of large trucks. We covered them in more detail here. It’s a bit surprising that Barreiros could afford a restyle of its hind quarters.
There was also a handsome station wagon, something that was never offered in the US on this generation of the A bodies. Pretty nice, except for the necessity of reusing the sedan’s rear doors, which is always a bit of a compromise.
The Argentine version of this car (built up to, IIRC, up to 1979/80) was almost identical, save for lights and some trim. In Argentina they were aslo luxo boats in their time. I don’t have a clue as to if they originated in the US, Argentina or Spain. There were a couple of trim levels in Argentina, the Dodge Coronado Automatico being the top one. By 1979 the interior looked really outdated.
Around 1970 several were brought over to Uruguay from Argentina as taxicabs, with a Perkins 4.203 engine. Some still had the three on the three, while others were converted to floor shift (I don’t remember if that one was also a 3 speed). The cars in that guise were hideous. You’d feel your head was welded to the Perkins. I also remember how claustrophobic they were inside, and entry and exit for someone a bit tall was quite uncomfortable. At the same time many Argentinian Chevies were imported with the same engine. They had the same shortcomings, though some of those were still roaming the streets 20 or 25 years later.
As Rafael pointed out, this “big” Dodges were designed by Chrysler in the US for the Argentine market. It was a cheaper way to come up with a fresh design in a low volume market (around 2000 units produced every year from 1969 to 1980).
The SW was a Spanish development since they already were making a SW of the previous version. In Argentina we had a very handsome coupe, the GTX.
Rafael actually said he doesn’t know the origin of the design of these cars. I don’t have comprehensive information on them, but I am pretty sure they were not designed in the United States; the fairly large amount of info I do have on them points to this bodyshell being of Argentine design, a rebody of the pre-1967 North American 111″-wheelbase A-body, sold there in Argentina as the Coronado), and the Dodge 3700GT being Barreiros’ adaptation of that Argentine car to comport with European regulations and Spanish market positioning and preferences.
However they came to be, and wherever they were designed, they didn’t share many (if any) body or glass panels with North American cars.
There’s an excellent book on the Barreiros Dodges, called “Los Dodge Espanoles”. Out of print now; difficult to buy, but not yet impossible to find.
Bring a Trailer featured one a while back, including a nice pic that shows the upgraded interior
https://bringatrailer.com/2016/09/30/spanish-built-dart-1975-dodge-3700-gt/
The Valiant and Dart just didn’t get any respect from Chrysler. I mean, in 1968, who’d want a 2 bbl Slant Six when you can get V-8 power for an extra hundred bucks? How about moving on up to a nice Satellite with 318, Torqueflite and radio, for only $300.
A four on the floor in a Valiant? Are you Commie? For only $162 more than a four speed you can have Toqueflite, the best darned automatic there was in 1968.
That’s the way Chrysler treated the Valiant and Dart, which were, in my opinion, the best engineered cars of 1968 domestics.
Even later M-bodies with 225 Super Six didn’t feel slow.
Hard to see how you can say that. The A bodies were generally recognized as the best compacts of their era, and outsold Chrysler’s usual share of the market. Chrysler expected the Dart to sell straight up against the Mustang, and promoted it that way.
The duo Dart-Valiant (soon turned into a trio when the Duster arrived) helped Chrysler to get a big part of the compact market despite competition from the Maverick who replaced the Falcon until GM arrived with B-O-P derivatives of the Chevy II/Nova with the Ventura/Omega/Apollo-Skylark.
True but Dodge really pushed the Barracuda and Charger as the “muscle car” but a 340 Dart isn’t too far off a 440 Charger performance wise.
Chrysler promoted the Dodge Dart and Plymouth Barracuda to the same market until Dodge got the Challenger. Charger was a premium coupe available with a muscle car option package–hot rodders bought it used, not new.
Chrysler pushed water uphill with the Dart until Dodge got a proper, late, and off-target sport compact/SWB Coronet.
Looks like they kept the basic roof shape, but switched the rear window from concave to convex.
The rear door glass on the wagon looks different than a US sedan. I think the C pillar leans forward more.
I don’t think I see a single panel from the 1967-76 US A body here, although the vibe is there.
The front overhang is longer and the fuel filler rides way lower in the quarter panel than on US A bodies. Sheetmetal-wise this looks like its own thing.
These cars have fascinated me for years, ever since I saw a small black and white picture of an Argentinian Dodge GTX in the 1973 edition of World Cars book, which was my Bible for years,.
In the back of the book there was a list of fastest top speeds, and from memory the GTX was the fastest Chrysler from 1973 (excluding Jensens and such like) with a 318 and 4 speed it was listed at 121 MPH.
I would love to know the full story of how these were developed, The changes on the outside of the basic Dart are extensive, I would guess only the front door skins are shared.
Even the shape of the windscreen surround is different, with rounded corners at the lower edge, a very expensive to do change, and worthwhile in my opinion, as it softens the relentlessly square theme of the original.
In some of my Australian Chrysler books,often mentioned is “Chrysler International,” which played a part in the design of the Aussie cars, my guess they would have had a hand in these as well, with input from Spain and Argentina.
I would guess that Chrysler International was based at Highland Park.
” I would guess only the front door skins are shared.”
Not even that. The crease here is straight and level. The US cars had a double crease that angled lower as it moved from front to rear.
Those Dodges boasted the biggest European-built 6cyl by a long shot, in the ’70s. And with none of the US’ s emissions regulations to strangle it, that Dodge was also pretty powerful for the time and place.
According to my Spanish connections, these were mainly bought by Franco’s minions, (ministers, high clergy, secret service, generals and the like). Not unlike the Argentinian Falcons or the Tatra 603, these Dodges were seen as somewhat nefarious by the general population.
But that station wagon version is still gorgeous.
As far as I know, they were popular as taxis, too. With a Barreiros own made diesel engine.
Don’t forget the old Jaguar six. Up to 4.2 litres and real mass production!
D’oh! The XK slipped my mind.
Here’s the Australian version of the wagon. (courtesy tradeuniquecars.com.au)
‘VE’ model, about 1967-8. 225 slant six.